Archaeological Report
Harney County Oregon, Range Seeding Projects

The Smyth Creek seeding covers some 2,110 acres, or 844 hectares, of land. The area lies along two tall ridges, one on either side of Rock Creek just before it joins Smyth Creek. Elevation varies from just over 4300 feet to 4800 feet. Sagebrush is the dominant vegetation throughout the area. Smyth Creek seeding was surveyed on September 3, 4, 10, 11, 12 and 15, 1980 by Loring, Toussaint, Kilmarx and Parker. Ten lithic scatters were recorded, two of which also included small rockshelters. One of these sites with a rock-shelter also featured some stone walls.

Six of the ten sites were less than one hectare in extent, varying from .03 to .3 hectares in size with an average of .22 hectare. The smallest of these sites includes a two-by-three meter rockshelter. Tools noted in these sites include seven projectile points, four bifaces and two pieces of groundstone.

Of the four sites larger than one hectare in extent, the smallest covers two hectares and included two projectile points and one biface. The next larger site is about three hectares in extent and includes a small rockshelter and stone walls. Nine projectile points, seven bifaces, three unifaces and one piece of groundstone were noted at this site. The next site is very large, about 20 hectares in extent, and included nine projectile points, eight bifaces and one piece of groundstone. The largest site covers the entirety of a long, gently sloping ridge top and encompasses approximately 44 hectares of land. This site was rich in tools with 61 projectile points, 32 bifaces and nine unifaces recorded. Groundstone was also noted as "present." Two of the four large sites were rated S-l, one S-2 and one S-3 in significance.